


reasons to be beautiful

by bellalbells



Series: hole [4]
Category: Jennifer's Body (2009)
Genre: F/F, sour soup
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26675752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellalbells/pseuds/bellalbells
Summary: It's not fair, Jennifer thought, feeling guilty even as she thought it.
Relationships: Jennifer Check/Anita "Needy" Lesnicki
Series: hole [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1520180
Comments: 27
Kudos: 72





	reasons to be beautiful

"There's something so fucking wrong with me," Jennifer whispered into Needy's hair. It was soft against her lips. They were back in Needy's bed, waiting for something to happen. Needy was dead asleep, head tucked under Jennifer's chin. Jennifer felt warm. The house was quiet. She drifted back to sleep. 

Glare from the sun through the blinds finally woke Jennifer for good. After a long moment allowing herself to bask in the soft sleepy feeling, she bolted upright. Needy was gone. 

Jennifer almost fell on her face trying to escape from the blankets that had somehow tangled themselves around her. As she rushed down the stairs, fully prepared to hunt Needy down and cover up another murder, she registered the sounds of quiet conversation coming from the kitchen. A peek around the corner revealed Needy sitting at the counter, chatting brightly with her mom. Jennifer let out a sigh of relief, and stepped into the kitchen. 

"How was work?" Jennifer asked Toni, who was cooking something gross-looking on the stove. "And what the fuck are you making?" She added as she leaned over her shoulder to stare into the large pot. It was watery and had chunks of what looked like skin in it.

"I didn't know you were here," Toni said with a laugh as she turned to swat Jennifer, who had already moved around the counter to sit next to Needy. "If you must know, it's some kind of sour soup with pork in it. I got the recipe from your mom."

Jennifer wrinkled her nose. "I hate that stuff. My grandma makes it literally every time I see her because I apparently liked it when I was two. I can't believe you're gonna eat it willingly." Toni chuckled to herself, but didn't take the bait. Jennifer could smell the soup, and it was making her a little nauseous. She let herself stare at Needy for a bit, justifying it as research. Needy looked radiant, like when she dressed up for the seventh grade winter formal and slow danced with Jennifer because she didn't want to dance with some slack-jawed kid with hygiene problems named Daryl that was obsessed with her that year. Jennifer had hated Daryl. 

She narrowed her eyes; Needy looked too pretty. Some might say unnaturally so. Jennifer knew she wasn't wearing makeup-she only ever wore lip gloss and mascara at most, and anyway the little scar under her left eye was still visible. She'd gotten it when Jennifer bit her face in kindergarten. Jennifer couldn't remember anymore what they'd been fighting about, but faintly recalled her indignation at missing her eye. Needy had given as good as she got with her fingernails, so Jennifer didn't really feel too bad. The few times that Needy had let her give her full makeup, the scar had been the first thing she wanted covered up. 

"Oh shit," She heard from the stove, "I forgot to ask you guys if you're okay? I helped triage some of the victims, and I know some kids from your grade got trapped in the fire." Toni kept stirring her soup, completely unaware of the tension behind her. 

Jennifer froze. She hadn't forgotten about the fire, not really. She hadn't forgotten about what happened after, either. In fact, she thought there were pretty good odds that her head would never be quiet again. Part of her was still watching a man burning to death, or sitting in a van and wondering if she was about to die, or screaming at her best friend's dead body. Maybe most of her. The remaining bits were wondering about the Lesnicki household's plumbing, and whether it might get clogged with hair and meat. That would be such a clusterfuck. Hopefully the original owners invested in wide pipes. 

"Mom, it's not like we knew them." Needy said between sips of coffee. Since when did Needy drink coffee black like that? That bitch loved sugar. And cream, even though she was lactose intolerant. She was a slut for pumpkin spice lattes, too. "All of the names I've seen are people that I haven't talked to since like ninth grade."

Toni turned and stared at Needy, mouth agape. 

"What?" Needy asked, looking confused. Jennifer wasn't sure if it was an act, but if it was she was impressed. Needy was doing a great impression of a callous asshole, and she wasn't totally convinced it was fake. 

"Honey, I don't know if you're in shock or what, but that was a really cold and insensitive thing to say. For God's sake, don't go saying anything like that outside of this room." Toni turned back to the stove with a look on her face as though she'd swallowed something bitter. Jennifer was still watching Needy, whose face had tightened with anger when her mom's back was turned. Nobody spoke for a while as Toni finished cooking her disgusting soup and ladled some into a bowl. Still appearing disturbed, Toni left the kitchen for the living room, where they heard the television start up. 

Jennifer wondered. She knew Needy had died, had seen the gory proof of her corpse. They'd worked through her newfound hunger together. Somehow, she still hadn't considered that Needy might not be Needy anymore. What if her best friend had really, permanently died last night, and the thing sitting next to her was just a rather meaty ghost or demon or something equally shitty? She wasn't sure if she'd be able to handle that. 

She yelped at a poke in her rib, and turned to glare at Needy. "Bitch."

"You were going out of focus again. I need you to keep it together, just for a little bit longer. Please, Jennifer?" Needy said, looking serious. "You can panic later if you need to, and I promise that I'll hold you if you want, but right now I need you to be here for me."

It's not fair, Jennifer thought, feeling guilty even as she thought it. Instead of answering her, Jennifer just smiled. It seemed to be enough for her.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know if you want me to keep going. comments are literally the only things that motivate me. also if there's anything you want to happen, definitely suggest it


End file.
